Crystalline silicon solar cells are broadly classified into monocrystalline solar cells and polycrystalline solar cells. In general, in crystalline solar cells, as shown in FIG. 8, a silicon ingot 30 doped into an n type or a p type is cut with a wire 31 or is sliced to a thickness of about 200 μm using a dicing technique, and the sliced ingot is used as a silicon wafer serving as a main body of a solar cell (see PTL 1). The silicon ingot 30 may be a monocrystalline silicon ingot formed through a Czochralski method or the like or a polycrystalline silicon ingot which is solidified from a molten silicon cast through a casting method.
As a method of manufacturing a polycrystalline silicon film of a polycrystalline solar cell, a method in which silicon particles deposited on a support substrate are melted and poly-crystallized is known (see PTL 2). FIG. 9 shows an apparatus for forming a polycrystalline silicon film. Silicon particles 42 (20 nm or less) formed by applying an arc discharge 41 to a silicon positive electrode 40 are loaded on argon gas 43 and are deposited on the support substrate 45 via a transport pipe 44, the silicon particles 42 deposited on the support substrate 45 are irradiated with a high-temperature plasma 46 and are thus melted, an annealing process is performed thereon with a halogen lamp 47 to form a polycrystalline silicon plate, and the resultant is separated into the support substrate 45 and a polycrystalline silicon film 49 in a separation chamber 48.
A method of crystallizing amorphous silicon, which is deposited on a glass substrate through the use of a catalyst chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) method, using a high-energy beam (flash lamp) has been studied (see PTL 3 and NPL 1). In PTL 3 and NPL 1, a Cr film serving as an electrode is formed on a quartz substrate with sides of 20 mm, amorphous silicon is deposited thereon in a thickness of 3 μm through the use of the Cat-CVD method and is processed with a flash lamp for 5 ms to form crystalline silicon.